Mayor Cool To Moving Train Station

NEW LENOX — Rush-hour traffic backups at Cedar Road and U.S. Highway 30 in New Lenox cannot be eased by relocating the Metra commuter station farther east, Mayor Mike Smith said Thursday.

The relocation option was suggested by a traffic consultant hired by the New Lenox Village Board to study the Cedar Road corridor.

"Extending the platform is not going to solve much of our problem because of safety features," said Smith, who discussed the idea with Metra and Illinois Department of Transportation officials at a meeting Wednesday.

Safety regulations require the switches that activate crossing gates at Cedar be 4,300 feet from the gates, he said. Those switches are timed to allow traffic to clear the intersection before the gates lower.

Moving the train station may not be a solution, but other projects in the works should improve the traffic picture, the mayor said.

Installing speed-sensitive switches to control gates at Cedar, Vine Street and Gougar Road will reduce the time intersections are closed for slow-moving freight trains.

IDOT officials told Smith the widening of the Cedar Road bridge, just north of U.S. 30, a project slated to begin in the spring, should help improve traffic flow.

Closing the Cedar Road exit from the Metra parking lot also could be helpful, the mayor said.

Eastbound trains may be able to stop farther away from the intersection when the Metra parking lot is extended to the east, he said.